Youth activist Dennis Apusika, who recently completed a 27-day, 785-kilometre walk from Bolgatanga to Accra, has opened up about the severe health challenges he endured along the way.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Ghana Weekend on Monday, August 18, Apusika revealed that the walk, which began as a football bet, tested his endurance to the limit.
“When I started from Tamale, I was supposed to go to Yendi, but I got to San very late. I cried when I sat on my resting bed because my leg was swollen. I’m not from a sports background, so I couldn’t understand what was happening to me,” he recounted.
Apusika said the pain was so unbearable that he sought help at a guesthouse, where a woman boiled hot water for him to soak his swollen legs, which had also developed boils.
The following day, he pressed on despite the discomfort. “From Tamale to San, I walked 67 kilometres, so the pain was too much. When I got to Yendi, there was a huge crowd waiting. I couldn’t show I was not in pain, so I endured it. During an interview at the Yendi roundabout, I nearly fainted. I had to stop, drink some water, and take ice kenkey to regain my strength,” he narrated.
That experience, he said, forced him to adjust his daily mileage from 60 kilometres to an average of 20–30 kilometres, depending on the weather.
Apusika embarked on the trek on July 22, 2025, after vowing to walk from Bolgatanga to Accra if Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) lost to Chelsea in the FIFA Club World Cup. What began as a lighthearted football bet soon evolved into a symbolic campaign for sports infrastructure and tourism development in Ghana’s Upper East Region.
He climaxed the journey on Sunday, August 17, 2025, at the Black Star Square in Accra, drawing national attention to the long-standing demand for a modern sports stadium in the Upper East Region.
